Role
Professor of Architecture, teaching across Architecture courses and supervising PhD students.
Career overview
Patricia holds an architecture and urbanism degree and a masters degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. She holds a PhD in design management from the University of Salford, UK. She was appointed as an academic fellow / senior lecturer at the University of Salford in 2004, including the development and delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. She also took the role of director of the design directorate at the School of the Built Environment. Patricia moved to the University of Huddersfield in 2014, where as a professor she held roles of Head of Department for Architecture and 3D Design (2014-2018), Associate Dean for Research and Enterprise at the School of Art, Design and Architecture (2018-2021), and Head of Department for Design and Built Environment (2021-2024) overseeing a range of strategic initiatives, as well as establishing and leading the research centre Innovative Design Lab. Patricia started her Professor of Architecture post at NTU in September 2024.
Patricia has a passion for academic leadership, a track record of fostering excellence in teaching and research, and a commitment to innovation, equality, diversity and inclusivity. She is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
Research areas
Professor Tzortzopoulos research interests cover design management and the generation of value in the application areas of healthcare design and social housing. Patricia has engaged in a number of research projects examining the design process, with focus on:
- Design front-end issues
- Requirements management and value generation
- Lean Construction
- Building Information Modelling
- Retrofit of social homes for energy efficiency and value generation
- Net-zero in off-site construction
- The effects of design into health outcomes
- Participatory design
- Wayfinding
- Automated code checking
- Collaborative and integrated design
- Visual Management
- Design and construction planning and control
Patricia is a member of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) since 1998 and has been engaged in the organisation and editorship of its conferences.
She has led and developed externally funded research projects including the following:
2023-2024 Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Actiform Limited, supporting the off-site construction company to achieve its digital transformation towards net zero. Academic Lead.
2023 AHRC funded Design Accelerator, focused on the value of design for sustainable housing. Principal Investigator
2021-2024 Royal Academy of Engineering funded project in collaboration with the University of Cape Town, SA, focused on developing a neighbourhood assessment framework to enhance sustainability in inclusivity for low-income communities. Co-investigator.
2021- 2023 United Nations Fund to End Violence Against Children funded project Emilio: an immersive, prosocial computer game to prevent online Child Sexual exploitation and abuse. Principal Investigator
2020-2024 Trans-Atlantic platform for social innovation funded project U-VITAL: User-Valued Innovations for Social Housing Upgrading through Trans-Atlantic Living Labs, with UNICAMP (Brazil), TU Delft (Netherlands) and UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig (Germany). Principal Investigator for the UK.
2020-2022 Erasmus+ funded project for PhD student and staff exchanges with Brazilian collaborators (UFRGS, UNICAMP and USP). Principal Investigator.
2019-2020 Arcadis – contract research to support Arcadis Design Process Mapping. Principal Investigator
2018-2019 Recommendations for automated checking of regulations and requirements management in healthcare design. Funder: Innovate UK through the CDDB – Centre for Digital Build Britain. Partners: University College London (UCL) and UFRGS. Principal Investigator
2017-2020 KTP with Waldeck, UAV integration with Building Information Modelling. Co-investigator
2017-2019 Erasmus+ International credit mobility, PhD student and staff exchanges with UFRGS – Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Principal Investigator
2017 From construction to production. Funder: research contract with Highways England. Co-investigator
2015 Newton Fund researcher Links workshop grant: Managing complex social housing urban redevelopment through improved project management and value generation. Funder: British Council. Project partner: UFRGS. Principal Investigator
2015 Continuous Improvement cells. Funder: research contract with Highways England. Co-investigator
2014-2015 Design quality in low-income housing. Funder: CNPq, Brazil. Collaboration with the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Co-investigator
2013- 2017 SIMPLER: Solid Wall, Innovative Insulation and Monitoring Processes using Lean Energy efficient Retrofit. Funder: Innovate UK. Partners: Carillion Energy Services limited; BRE; Leeds Metropolitan University; Collaborative Improvement Ltd; Tensor plc; Virtual retrofit Manager; Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Co-investigator
2013-2016 The use of BIM in projects of social relevance: applications in planning, design and construction in healthcare and social housing. Funder: CNPq, Brazil through the PVE – Especial Visiting Professor, Science without Boarders. Developed with Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Co-investigator
2013 -2014 KTP with Infra Projects: Target Value Design. Funder: Technology Strategy Board. £130,162.00. Co-investigator
2012 British Council for Offices - research on BIM, in collaboration with HoK. Co-investigator
2012 Preparation of a Guidance Document to Identify and Illustrate the Lean Synergies and Opportunities Created by the Application of BIM. Funder: CIRIA. Co-investigator
2011-2012 The implementation of BIM in the Brazilian context; provided support for sabbatical at UFRGS, Brazil. Principal Investigator
2011 Indicative study – post-occupancy evaluation, chesterfield Hospital NHS Trust. Co-investigator
2011 Evaluation of care home projects for McGoff and Byrne. Research contract funded by the company. Principal Investigator
2011-2013 Improved value generation through better design process. Funder: Royal Society. Principal Investigator
2010 Accounting for knowledge embedded in physical objects within knowledge management systems. Funder: EPSRC. Co-investigator
2009 Research Institute for the Built and Human Environment (BuHu), University of Salford. Research funds for the formation of research groups.
2009 Doctoral Training Account Grant for HaCIRIC, funded by EPSRC. Co-investigator
2008 HaCIRIC funding for collaboration with Lancaster University – research project entitled: Design for Flexibility and Change within health service providers; co-investigator
2008 MSc sponsorships for the BE for Healthcare programme – through the EPSRC CTA (Collaborative Training Account). Co-investigator
Patricia has extensive publications including peer reviewed journals, conferences, research reports, book chapters and two books.
External activity
Member of the ESRC Peer Review College, from 2023
Member of the executive committee of the Global Leadership Forum for Construction Engineering and Management (GLF-CEM), from July 2020
Board Member of the CIB – International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction, June 2020- September 2024; Vice president June 2022 – September 2024
Member of the Latin American Association for Construction Management and Economics (from 2010)
Member of the editorial board of: Revista Produção (Brazil)
Member of the editorial board of: Gestao e Tecnologia de Projetos (Brazil)
Member of the Editorial board of: Revista Ambiente Construido (built environment journal – Brazil)
Associate Editor for ‘Ambiente Construido’ (Brazil) from 2019 to 2023
External examiner for the MSc Modern Building Design, University of Bath, from 2015 to 2018
Member of scientific committee for conferences of the International Group for Lean Construction from 2004
Member of the scientific committee for the CIB World 2022 conference, Melbourne, Australia
Member of the scientific committee for the CIB World 2025 conference Purdue, USA
Reviewer for Journals including Construction Management and Economics; Automation in Construction; Design Studies; ECAM – Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management; AEDM – Architecture, Engineering and Design Management; Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering; Sustainability; Journal of Management in Engineering; Buildings.
External examiner for PhD students in institutions such as: TU Delft, Netherlands; Aalto University, Finland; University of Malaya, Malaysia; University of Alberta, Canada; UFRGS - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; UFP – Federal University of Parana, Brazil; University of Salford, UK; Liverpool John Moores University, UK; University of Liverpool, UK; Heriot Watt University, UK; UFBA – Federal University of Bahia, Brazil; State University of Londrina, Brazil; Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil; UNICAMP, Brazil; University of Sao Paulo – USP, Brazil; Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden; Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa.
Reviewer for Journals including Construction Management and Economics; Automation in Construction; ECAM – Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management; Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering; Sustainability; Journal of Management in Engineering; Buildings.
Publications
Recent publications
Edirisinghe, R; Jayasuriya, S.; Almulla, J.; Abobakr, M.; Costa,D.; Alberte, E,; Hastak, M.; & Tzortzopoulos, P. (2024): Gender diversity in construction: demystifying the pipeline leaks in Australia, United States, United Kingdom and Brazil, International Journal of Construction Management, DOI:10.1080/15623599.2024.2397291
Giwa, F., Omotayo, T., Tzortzopoulos, P., & Malalgoda, C. (2024). BIM-Enabled Claims Management Concept: Implications for Dispute Avoidance and Management. Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 16(3), [04524009]. https://doi.org/10.1061/JLADAH.LADR-1112
Kowaltowski, D. C. C. K., Gomes da Silva, V., van Oel, C., Granja, A. D., Muianga, E., Kabisch, S., de Carvalho Moreira, D., Koolwijk, J. S. J., Pößneck, J., Tzortzopoulos, P., Soliman-Junior, J., Bridi, M. E., & Freeke, A. (2024). Living labs for user empowerment and value delivery in social housing upgrading processes. Habitat International, 145, [103019]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2024.103019
Bolzan Wesz, J. G., Miron, L. I. G., Delsante, I., & Tzortzopoulos, P. (2023). Urban Quality of Life: A Systematic Literature Review. Urban Science, 7(2), [56]. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci7020056
Rooke, C., Rooke, J., Tzortzopoulos, P., & Koskela, L. (2023). Wayfinding in Complex Medical Facilities: The Indexicality of Directional Arrows. Health Environments Research and Design Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/19375867231180908
Tezel, A., Koskela, L., & Tzortzopoulos, P. (2023). Implementation of continuous improvement cells: a case study from the civil infrastructure sector in the UK. Production Planning and Control, 34(1), 68-90. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2021.1885794
Pedó, B.; Formoso, C.T.; Viana, D.D.; Tzortzopoulos, P.;Brandalise, F.M.P.; Whitelock-Wainwright, A. (2022) Visual Management Requirements to Support Design Planning and Control within Digital Contexts. Sustainability, 14, 10989. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710989
Soliman-Junior, J, Tzortzopoulos, P & Kagioglou, M (2022), 'Designers’ perspective on the use of automation to support regulatory compliance in healthcare building projects', Construction Management and Economics, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 123-141. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2021.2022176
Bridi, ME, Soliman-Junior, J, Granja, AD, Tzortzopoulos, P, Gomes da Silva, V & Kowaltowski, D (2022) 'Living Labs in Social Housing upgrades: Process, Challenges and Recommendations', Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 5, 2595. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052595
Baldauf, JP, Formoso, CT & Tzortzopoulos, P (2021), 'Method for managing requirements in healthcare projects using building information modelling', Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-12-2020-1040
Soliman-Junior, J, Tzortzopoulos, P, Parise Baldauf, J, Pedo, B, Kagioglou, M, Formoso, CT & Humphreys, JS (2021), 'Automated compliance checking in healthcare building design', Automation in Construction, vol. 129, 103822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2021.103822
Talebi, S, Koskela, L, Tzortzopoulos, P, Kagioglou, M, Rausch, C, Elghaish, F & Poshdar, M (2021), 'Causes of Defects Associated with Tolerances in Construction: A Case Study', Journal of Management in Engineering - ASCE, vol. 37, no. 4, 05021005. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000914
Serugga, J, Kagioglou, M & Tzortzopoulos, P (2021), 'Benefits Realization: Novel Conceptual Model for Front End-Design Decision-Making Using Dempster-Shafer Theory and Quality Function Deployment', Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, vol. 147, no. 7, 04021062. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0002035
Tezel, A, Koskela, L & Tzortzopoulos, P (2021), 'Implementation of continuous improvement cells: a case study from the civil infrastructure sector in the UK', Production Planning and Control. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2021.1885794
Baldauf, JP, Formoso, CT, Tzortzopoulos Fazenda, P, Miron, LIG & Soliman-Junior, J (2020), 'Using Building Information Modelling to Manage Client Requirements in Social Housing Projects', Sustainability, vol. 12, no. 7, 2804. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072804
Tzortzopoulos, P, Kagioglou, M & Koskela, L (eds) 2020, Lean Construction: Core Concepts and New Frontiers. 1 edn, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.